Search This Blog

Monday, December 16, 2013

Farrakhan says Kanye West need not apologize in Jewish flap

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan told rapper Kanye
West not to apologize or bow to pressure over remarks that were called “classic
anti-Semitism” by the Anti-Defamation League.

“You are telling Kanye West he should know better,”
Farrakhan said on Saturday during a weekly address for the Nation of Islam,
directing his words at ADL National Director Abraham Foxman. “He does know
better, and that’s why he said what he said.”

West, defending President Obama’s difficulty in passing his
policies, said in an interview late last month on the New York City radio station
WWPR-FM, “Black people don’t have the same level of connections as Jewish
people.”

Foxman called the statement classic anti-Semitism, adding:
“There it goes again, the age-old canard that Jews are all-powerful and control
the levers of power in government. As a celebrity with a wide following, Kanye
West should know better.

We hope that he will take responsibility for his
words, understand why they are so offensive, and apologize to those he has
offended.”

Farrakhan, taking further about Foxman, said, “I wish you
and I could have a dialogue. You wouldn’t pull that small-time stuff on me.”

Addressing West, Farrakhan said, “Kanye West, don’t bow to
the pressure to apologize to anybody. You said nothing wrong.”